Monday, 21 January 2013

A Use it or Lose it Tip

Today I want to share an easy tip to help you use up those papers and scraps that you've been hoarding. It's not a new idea but maybe you've forgotten (or overlooked) the simple technique of diecutting those hard to use papers and neglected scraps.

I know it's so obvious but it is worth mentioning because diecutting old papers is a great way to mix old and new product and use up supplies. If you're a scrapbooker you probably have all the supplies you need: oodles of paper; bunches of punches or a diecut machine or two.

Let me show you how easy it is to do. Here's a page I made using a lot of product from The Paperie's December kit.

But that diecut tree is made from a piece of paper from Basic Grey's Jovial collection. It wasn't a part of the kit because it was released in 2010. I loved the paper but couldn't find a way to use it until I cut it with my Silhouette Cameo. It looks great and you'd never know it's been in my stash for 2 years.

Here's a closeup...

Here's another set of tress I made using paper from the same collection.

I backed these trees with some book paper just for a bit of variety.

And here's the whole layout.

Once the patterns are cut into smaller shapes I find they're easier to use and they don't look dated. Neat, huh?

To make this easier to do, I've gone through my paper stash and pulled the papers that I love but I keep passing over and now I have a pile of papers that I can diecut and mix in with my newer stuff. I won't diecut shapes to have on hand because then I'm sorting through piles of little hearts and stars. It's much easier to look through sheets of paper and find the one that suits my project and then cut it.

So, dig out your punches or diecut machines and make some shapes. It's fun and easy! I hope this helps you get your stuff out of your stash and onto your pages.